You Have to Repay Your Savior

Pristin caught the eye of someone familiar walking to the command post.

‘That person…’

Pristin stopped what she was doing and stared at her. In time, the woman came before Pristin.

She was Brelin. Tanya’s maid. Pristin stared at Brelin as she came near her for a moment, and soon opened her mouth.

“What brings you here?”

“I scraped myself against a tree branch running over here…”

“Let me see.”

Pristin began to examine Brelin’s condition with meticulous eyes.

“Fortunately, it’s not a bad wound. If you apply this herbal remedy…”

However, upon checking the herb chest, Pristin discovered that the medicinal herb used to treat minor cuts was gone.

‘Oh well, we’ve been busy all morning…’

But for a moment, Pristin asked another herbalist next to her for first aid to Brelin, and then stood up. Akkad, who found her, asked,

“Where are you going, Countess?”

“Oh, Lord Bachell.”

Pristin said, pointing her finger at the willow basket on her wrist.

“I ran out of medicinal herbs. I need to get some more before the afternoon sets in.”

“Are you thinking about entering the forest?”

“Everyone seems to be heading deep into the woods now, so there shouldn’t be any danger.”

“Then let’s go together. Wouldn’t two be better than one?”

“Yes. That would be nice.”

Pristin didn’t bother to refuse. Soon the two of them went into the woods together, and Pristin told Akkad,

“I think we’d better split up from here and move around. I think that’s how we’ll be more efficient.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

Pristin responded calmly to Akkad’s question, which seemed to imply concern.

“Will something happen? I heard all the wild animals were chased away.”

“Of course, but… just in case.”

“Don’t worry too much, I won’t venture too far inside.”

Seeing that Pristin reacted calmly, Akkad let go of his grip.

“Just make sure to return within two hours.”

“Yes. I don’t intend to stay long either.”

“Please take good care of yourself, Countess. Since it’s a hunting ground, anything can happen at any moment.”

“Yes, lord. Take care of yourself, too.”

Only after another last warning did Akkad leave Pristin. Pristin waited until Akkad moved away from her; and when she was left completely alone, she sighed briefly and rolled her long sleeves over her elbow.

“Well, let me get started.”

She hadn’t planned on staying in one place for long anyway. So, Pristin wandered from tree to tree, digging up the herbs she needed immediately.

It was around the time when she was digging for herbs without knowing the time.

“My back hurts…”

Pristin took off her gloves and took out her pocket watch. The promised two hours were almost up.

“How did time pass so quickly…”

Lost in thought, Pristin slowly got up from her spot. Satisfied, she admired the basket full of herbs in her hand.

“But I’ve dug a lot.”

Pristin was about to return to the command post, thinking that there would be no shortage of herbs at least for the rest of the time.

– Whoosh!

Suddenly, an arrow flew from the side and stuck in a tree next to Pristin. Pristin looked everywhere with a surprised face in the sudden situation. But there was no sign of movement anywhere.

‘This is bad.’

Unsure of what to do, Pristin hesitantly started to run. At the same time, she heard footsteps rustling through the bushes.

Someone was chasing her.

– Thunk!

Then, another arrow flew in and stuck next to Pristin. Pristin was horrified at that moment. Someone was chasing her, hiding in the grass.

‘You’re trying to kill me.’

Another arrow struck near Pristin’s feet. Feeling terrified, Pristin picked up her pace and started to run faster.

Pristin ran at full speed, but the hunter, who hid in the grass, continued to shoot arrows at Pristin. Pristin had to feel endless fear as if she had been targeted by a hunter.

“Huff! Huff!”

Before she knew it, she had reached her physical limit.

‘I won’t be the only one getting tired.’

Without a doubt, whoever was chasing her must also be nearing their breaking point.

‘If I slow down now, I’ll lose. I’ll die.’

Mustering up the remaining energy she had left, Pristin pushed herself to run even further. Suddenly, an unexpected figure appeared before her eyes.

“Haaa…”

“Pristin?”

It was Jerald. Pristin was shocked to see him standing alone without anyone else around. Jerald approached Pristin after picking up the arrow he had pointed at her after mistaking her for a beast. Panting heavily, Pristin forced herself to walk toward Jerald.

“Your Majesty…”

“Pristin, why are you here…”

“Are you alone?”

“No, soon the other aristocrats will come this way, too.”

Hearing his words gave Pristin a sense of relief. But she knew she couldn’t relax yet.

“You should hurry and join the others, Your Majesty.”

Only then did Jerald’s expression harden, perhaps thinking something unusual was happening.

“What’s the matter, Pristin?”

“There, someone over there is trying to kill me!”

In response, Jerald quickly pulled Pristin close to him, shielding her body. Caught off guard, Pristin stared blankly at Jerald embracing her.

Then, suddenly—

“Ugh!”

A low groan came from Jerald. Pristin looked at Jerald, who had been struck instead by the arrow flying at her with a look of bewilderment.

Pristin couldn’t even blink once and fixed her gaze on Jerald’s back, where the arrow was stuck.

“Your…”

“Are you okay, Pristin?”

“Your Majesty, right now…”

Pristin struggled with her trembling lips.

“This is when you should worry about yourself…”

“I’m fine. It’s just one little arrow.”

“Your Majesty, you must not speak so calmly.”

“It wasn’t a vital spot. I’m fine…”

Unlike his nonchalant response, however, Jerald stumbled slightly at that moment. Frustrated, Pristin quickly grabbed Jerald.

“Your Majesty, we need to call for someone right now…”

And then, a disastrous sight came into Pristin’s view.

‘…The color is dark red.’

It was a poisoned arrow.

Pristin looked at Jerald anxiously, his pale complexion contrasting sharply with his usual ruddy cheeks. Even though he wasn’t hit in a critical area, he looked deathly ill. Pristin quickly caught Jerald as he began to sway.

Carefully, she laid him down on the grass and examined the wound with shaking hands.

‘Poisoned arrow…’

Pristin looked at Jerald with wide-eyed shock; despite his paleness, he maintained a calm expression. To an outsider, this situation may not appear severe.

At that moment, voices of approaching people were heard from behind.

“Oh my goodness, Your Majesty!”

“Whatever happened…”

“How could such a thing happen, Countess Rosewell!”

These were the aristocrats whom Jerald had mentioned earlier. Still cradling Jerald, Pristin spoke nervously.

“His Majesty, His Majesty… has been poisoned.”

The aristocrats who listened to Pristin looked shocked.

“What?! How could this possibly happen!”

“Do something! Call for the guards immediately!”

“Actually, it would be better if we escorted His Majesty ourselves.”

Eventually, one of the aristocrats ended up carrying Jerald on his back and headed toward the command post. Following them were Pristin along with the rest of the aristocrats.

Luckily, they arrived at the command post quickly, and all medical personnel gathered to treat Jerald.

Shortly afterward, one of the doctors spoke up.

“Thankfully, if treated promptly, His Majesty should avoid any life-threatening complications. The problem is…”

What problem? Pristin listened attentively to the doctor’s following words.

“We need to extract the tip of the arrow containing poison from His Highness’s body, but we lack proper methods.”

“There aren’t any methods at all?”

“That’s not true, but given how dangerous it is…”

The doctor hesitated, expressing reluctance. They finally revealed the solution.

“In order for the antipyretic to work quickly, you have to suck the poison directly with your mouth, which is very dangerous. Even those who suck the poison can be harmed.”*

*[EN: Please don’t take any medical advice from this novel. If someone is bitten by a venomous snake or poisoned, medical experts do not advise trying to suck venom/poison out.]

“I’ll do it.”

Pristin raised her hand without hesitation. Everyone around her looked at Pristin with astonished eyes.

“I’ll do it.”

“Your Excellency, it’s dangerous.”

“But it’s something that someone has to do.”

Pristin was adamantly undaunted. Jerald got hurt because of her. Thus, she resolved to handle the task.

“I’ll do it.”

Eventually, in the absence of a suitable alternative, it was concluded that Pristin was sucking out the poison from Jerald’s blood. Pristin sat crouching beside Jerald’s shoulder after carefully listening to instructions provided by doctors. Then she slowly lowered her upper body and began to carefully suck the wound.

Soon, dark red blood was spitting out of Pristin’s mouth. Pristin repeated the process nearly twenty times.

“Oh…”

It was exactly when she got to Jerald’s wound on the twentieth time that she felt dizzy. Pristin, who was standing up, began to stumble slightly, and Akkad, who was looking at her, quickly helped her.

“Your Excellency, you’d better stop.”

“But…”

“Stop now. Otherwise, both you and His Majesty will be in danger.”

Akkad dissuaded Pristin with a serious look.

“I’ll fill the remaining number of times.”

“I cannot ask you to do such a thing, sir.”

“There are only a few left anyway.”

Akkad smiled and then picked up Pristin. Then he took her to a nearby cot and laid her down. Pristin murmured, ignoring her increasingly cloudy eyes.

“It’s okay…”

“Wait a minute. The servants are preparing the antidote, and they will bring it soon.”

Akkad left that comment and went back to Jerald. Pristin stared at Akkad’s back and then closed her eyes as she had lost consciousness.